


Dragon roses

by kitaychan



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Arthur and Alfred are knights, Dragon! Yao, Dragons, M/M, magical au, so if you are not into snakes and such, there is a description of a dragon, you are warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29367132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitaychan/pseuds/kitaychan
Summary: Alfred was a naive knight but he knew enough to understand that some legends held some truth. Arthur and him would find out the hard way by coming across the magical dragon roses.
Relationships: America & England (Hetalia), China/Russia (Hetalia)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14





	Dragon roses

Alfred had heard the rumors, they could be the lies of bored villagers, the delusions of a feverish man but the king was eager to send them to find a magical flower. 

Those nonsensical rulers always had the strangest of tastes, not hesitating to send off a pack of their men to investigate a rumor. 

He was fed up with this journey, his own horse was slower than usual, he was tempted to go back and lie to the king, they were wasting time that could have been used to help real people with real problems but Arthur had to be responsible and ushered them to comply to the task. 

“It is your duty.” was what he had said. Thank goodness he had done so.

The travelers they had encountered on their way to the village were weary of the forest, warning them not to cross it, to take the longer path, to return to the palace instead. They talked about the scary creatures that resided there, the evil mage that had brought demise to the otherwise peaceful lands.

They didn’t stay long to hear the whole story, it was always the same. 

Witchcraft wasn’t exactly prohibited, what was strange was a sorcerer being so confident as to practice it in broad daylight. That’s when the subject became troublesome, when the kings became paranoid and declared the woman or man a public enemy, sending their soldiers after them, deeming them to imprisonment or death. 

The rest of it was predictable, seeing the forest treated with such caution gave an idea of who had resulted victorious against the royal army.   
  
Perhaps the king had sent them to finish the execution order without telling them, Alfred’s assumptions were proven wrong when he saw the visible smoke coming from a tower in that forest. 

If the rumors were true. A dragon had been around and the dragon roses were actually there.

He wouldn’t have cared for those beasts if they weren’t so valuable, their fangs, their eyes even a single scale of dragon could secure him a lifetime of luxury. Unluckily for him, dragons were extinct, legends from the past. what remained of them were the dragon roses.

The slippery nature of those creatures made it difficult for any hunter to follow their trail and find the roses, but Alfred wasn’t a hunter, he was a knight, the best at it or at least, he tried to, the competition was hard. A dragon rose would secure his reputation, his name on the history books, that was for sure. 

Unlike the hunters, Alfred had an ace under his sleeve. He didn’t work alone. That heroic delusion of being a lone rider was left in the past, he was aware of the fact that if it weren’t for Arthur he would’ve died on his first hunt. 

He glanced at his side to see the man frowning, his eyebrows knitted together. Stopping the horse, he moved his head, ushering Alfred to take a look. 

The village was different to what he had imagined. He expected a scared, oppressed population instead they faced a fairly developing town, the streets were a bit crowded, people walking around hurriedly, children running and laughing accompanied by a dog. 

Alfred unmounted the horse, asking for directions, getting ill looks from the town’s folks. 

“You have to be a fool if you want to go in there!” an old lady had said.

“That forest is cursed, whomever enters it is doomed to perish.” The baker declared.

“A dragon has been stealing my father’s sheeps” exclaimed a child. 

Alfred had to suppress his laughter at that, nevertheless it was that same kid who had pointed the way into the forest.

The place was grim, full of dry trees with crunchy leaves. the further they went the darker the leaves became, crows were following their steps, observing, waiting.

The horses slowed their pace, their hooves sinking on the muddy ground, difficulting their gallops. they grew closer to each other, narrowing the space until the horses could no longer advance.

Boughs intertwined forming a sort of natural fence, though there was nothing natural in the way the trees were bent. It was too convincing, too elaborate to be normal. The horses would neither pass through nor above. 

Alfred cursed, unmounting the horse, he drew out his sword, attempting to clear the way before Arthur stopped him, clenching his hand with force. “If you cut a single branch the trees will enclose, there won’t be a chance of passing through. It’s obviously a spell of some sort.”

“I ain’t blind. How are we supposed to cross if we don’t cut it?” Alfred whined, touching a branch softly with the blade. 

Arthur grasped a lower bough with his hand, lifting it up, testing it’s flexibility. “We’ll have to pass through them, carefully.”

Alfred sighed, mimicking Arthur. “Careful is my surname.” He was glad to see that the fence wasn’t as dense as he thought, just sliding through the floor would take them to the other side of it. 

He held the branches while Arthur passed, the metallic screech of Arthur’s sword against the soil made him shiver. He made sure to adjust his sword so it wouldn’t do the same.

Dusting himself, Alfred could feel his feet sinking, Arthur was trudging, trying to keep himself from sagging on the mud. 

Still, Alfred couldn’t help but gasp at the sight. They were a few steps from a dark blue lake, white ducks were bathing on it, flapping their wings, splashing water around. 

Across the lake, the grass was vibrant green, there were bushes carefully placed, covered in berries, adorning the trees that stood proudly showing off their red shiny apples. 

The tall tower stood before them, roses climbing through the brick walls, sparing the wooden door that he supposed was the entrance. 

Alfred felt his mood lift abruptly, they were so close to those flowers yet the look on Arthur’s face was wary. 

He approached, making wet noises with each step. “We are a dip closer to those roses, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“Should we test the water first, then? I think the lake has a decent depth, it’s dark and the bottom is not noticeable but the ground is not so far, I think we can make it.”

“No Alfred-”

“Come on, those ducks are not dying, the water can’t be poisonous.”

“I don’t know how to swim!”

Oh, that was a problem. Alfred couldn’t suppress his laughter, all that rigorous training as a knight, and a simple dip was stopping him? 

Embarrassment was quick to show on Arthur’s face but he refrained from making any remarks. 

When Alfred calmed down, his belly hurt, he took a deep breath, a snarky smile formed on his lips. “I will help you. It’s my duty, remember?”

Arthur huffed but followed Alfred in his plan. 

The thing with deliberations, was that they were easier said than done. 

Once they were in the middle of the lake, Arthur clenching Alfred’s shoulders tightly, and Alfred swimming difficulty with the extra weight on him and out of breath, the young knight understood why Arthur was doubting each step they gave during their journey. 

It was different when your actions could damage another person’s life. The realization hit him hard, he couldn’t feel the bottom of the lake, his arms were aching and he struggled to keep both of them above. 

When his hand grasped the edge of the lake, relief washed over him. He helped Arthur out of the water and climbed into the soft grass. The little strength he had was drained out of him.

Drenched and exhausted, they neared the tower, Alfred widened his eyes at the red flowers, each petal shined majestically, now, he understood this was no ordinary flower, the petals were chiselled out of the reddest rubbies he’d ever seen. Though, he had never seen any. 

He reached out to touch a flower, his hand was slapped by Arthur, his voice hushed.“They are too red.” 

Alfred grimaced, rubbing his hand. “What does that mean?”

Arthur, paced towards the tall wooden door.“Alfred, do you know why they are called dragon roses?”

He shrugged. “They grow near a dragon’s lair but as you said, there are no dragons left.” 

Arthur nodded.“It is said that when a dragon dies the roses cover the corpse. It’s a macabre beauty but it fades away because what keeps the flowers alive is the dragon.” The door’s handles were black, shaped as dragon heads, his hand took a hold of one. “Or a part of it.”

“Do you think that someone is taking care of the roses?” 

Arthur nodded, trying to push the door open. “It’s heavy, help me.”

The flapping of feathers interrupted them. A swan descended, landing softly on the lake, the ducks took off rapidly, leaving the animal alone, it swimmed gracefully towards the edge, shaking the water off its white feathers as it marched towards the door.

The animal opened its wings, squawking and pecking at Arthur making him step back.“Bloody hell!”

Alfred laughed at the display in front of him. “You have offended him, quick apologize or the goose will eat you.”

“It’s a swan,” Arthur tried to push away the animal with his foot only for it to peck his leg. “What's this animal’s problem? I see no nest around.”

“Let’s just take the flower and leave, this swan is obviously territorial.” The young knight chuckled, walking off to the side of the tower. “If someone is taking care of the roses as you said, we better go without it seeing us.” 

Arthur huffed, walking carefully around the swan. He drew out a dagger. “Take one and I will cut the stem.” 

Alfred did as he was told, but no matter how much Arthur tried to cut carefully, the stalk would not break.

Frustrated, Alfred took out his sword and huffed. “Let me try”

He raised the sword, prepared to swing it down with all his force but the swan squacked noisily again, flying directly into his face, Alfred let the sword fall and pushed the animal away with Arthur’s help. 

“Why don’t we just kill that swan?” Alfred spat, the animal was plain annoying, he wanted to poke at it with the sword but Arthur stopped him. 

“Please, we just need a couple of those.” he said, pushing Alfred back.

The animal approached the roses, forcefully fluttering his wings, some of its feathers fell in the process and landed on the flowers that fell delicately on the grass.

Arthur was quick to pick them up, taking a hold of Alfred and walking away rapidly.

The way back wasn’t as tortuous as before, Alfred felt as if the water itself was carrying them to the other side.

Climbing out of the water, Alfred chuckled. “All we had to do was ask the goose for the flowers?”

Arthur hushed him, ushering to go towards the trees.“Shut up, we have to leave as soon as we can.”

He held the branches so Arthur could pass with the roses. 

Before sliding himself he glanced back, at the tower, the swan stood in front of the door, wings fluttering. A shiver ran down his pine as the wooden door opened, revealing a dark red, scaly tail.

The trees bent inwards mere seconds after he passed through, he took a deep breath, the gloomy forest providing an asuring sight, the horses were waiting. 

They galloped in silence, the leaves crunching under the hooves. Alfred felt a weight leave his shoulders as they exited the forest. He let out a nervous laugh. “We were this close to dying.”

Arthur stopped, a small smile graced his face, he handed Alfred one of the flowers so he could admire it closely. “I thought that mage was going to kill us. Why do you think he let us go?”

“What mage? There was a dragon in the tower.” Alfred laughed, taking a hold of the rose.

“What nonsense are you talking about? The swan was a mage, why else would it give us the flowers? It understood what I said.”

Alfred snorted, leading the horse away. “Just for once, admit that I am right. It pecked at us, what kind of sorcerer does that?”

“You aren’t.” The swan was a mage.” Arthur huffed, ushering his horse to quicken its pace, passing Alfred and leading the way. 

* * *

The swan fluttered it’s wings slowly, taking off the ground slightly and twirling around, the white feathers fell in cascade, forming a spiral. When the twisting stopped, a tall man stood, taking off a white cloak and dusting it, the fabric shifting into a long scarf. 

The tower rumbled with a roar, the brick structure shaking slightly as the wooden door opened wider. 

He sighed, adjusting his scarf and walking towards the door. “I know, I know, You don’t have to be so grumpy, Yao-Yao.” The man said, stepping into the set of stairs that escalated in a spiral.

A red snakish form squirmed against the walls, making them tremble. 

“You just have to wait until they leave the forest, don’t fret, your uncomfort will be over soon.” The tall man reached out to caress the red scales that glinted with a golden undertone, gaining another roar from the creature.

“They won’t come back, those two touched the roses with their bare hands.” The man kept walking up the stairs, unfaced by the tower’s movement, a sinister smile gracing his lips. “It won’t take long for them to die.”

The top of the tower was spacious but the creature filled the room, its large figure awkwardly bent in circles to fit inside.

The creature's eyes opened, revealing golden orbs. The tall man stopped before the dragon’s face and stared intently, stroking softly the scales. “I know you don’t like adulation but you have such beautiful eyes.”

The dragon sighed, opening slightly its mouth, rows of sharp white fangs were visible, a slippery snakish tongue slid out of the creature lapping at the man's cheek.

A nervous laugh escaped the sorcerer, his face acquiring a red tinge .“You will be the end of me, Yao.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sooo sorry. This idea has been haunting my mind for so long that I had to take it out of my head.  
> Comments and kuddos are appreciated :D


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